On May 26, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the State of Arizona in Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting. The Supreme Court held that the Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA) was a valid and enforceable law.  The LAWA requires all employers doing business in Arizona to use the use the federal E-Verify system to confirm the work authorization of new hires and punishes businesses for failure to do so.  The Chamber of Commerce argued that Federal law preempted the Arizona law and that Arizona did not have the authority to enact such a law.  The Supreme Court held that Arizona’s law could co-exists with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA).  Moreover, the Court noted that Federal Law did not prohibit the states from imposing the use of E-Verify.

Opponents of the law have asserted that E-Verify is inaccurate.  They have also asserted that Arizona will continue its anti-immigration efforts, which they feel is unconstitutional and unfair.  Supporters have indicated that this is a necessary step in fighting the problems of illegal immigration.  In fact, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) stated that he was pleased with the ruling and stated that “American jobs should be preserved for Americans and legal workers. “ Smith and some of his colleagues are already working on a plan to introduce a bill to make the use of E-Verify by all states mandatory. As such it is likely that California will soon be using the E-Verify system, whether voluntarily or through the mandates of Congress.  In the meantime, employers should take care in hiring new employees.

For more information, or if you need legal assistance, please contact the Wagner Legal Group, P.C. at (310) 857-5293 or fill out our contact form on the website.